La spada di Montecristo

David Bond is Napoleon III, Emperor of France, and mighty sick of it. Everyone wants him off his Imperial throne, and the restoration of the Republic. Particularly in Normandy, where Paula Corday has adopted a Zorro-like persona to fight with the rebels. She has also promised that the treasure of Monte Cristo will be spent on freeing the French, just as soon as she gets it from her freedom-loving uncle, Duke Robert Warwick.

With all these people, noble and common against him, Bond has only two supports. One is the army, particularly Captain George Montgomery. The other is Minister Berry Kroeger, who talked him into proclaiming the Second Empire. But Kroeger doesn't give a rap about anything but finding Monte Cristo's fortune for himself.

It's supposedly an adaptation from Dumas. I admit I have not read everything the fellow wrote, but I can't identify what this is from, except people fighting over money in old-timey gear. Miss Corday is quite the beautiful redhead, and Montgomery is stalwart to the point of not thinking. There's also a chance to watch stout William Conrad fence with Miss Corday for a few seconds before he falls off a cliff.

It's all nonsense, but attractively shot nonsense. Kudos to the unnamed Second Unit director for the fight scenes.

This is obviously yet another offshoot of Alexandre Dumas's "The Count Of Monte Cristo": however, from those I have watched, this is the one with the most tenuous connection – since the famed treasure has been bequeathed to one of the characters involved in the narrative simply because he was the best friend of Edmond Dantes…which would imply the latter having had no living relatives, thus negating the wife, son and grandson presented as rightful – and, usually, wronged – heirs in previous efforts (clearly made by other hands) spun from the original!

In any case, this Edward L. Alperson production, written by the director (whose first and sole venture for the big-screen in the latter capacity this proved to be – no wonder his name was unfamiliar to me!), is nothing if not a hodgepodge of ideas borrowed from other films: to begin with, a raid on a coach sees the bandits wearing handkerchiefs over their mouths just like in a Western!; most crucially, we have the presence of a (female) avenger played by Paula Corday referred to as "The Masked Cavalier" – but, in reality, a member of the French nobility whose mansion is conveniently outfitted a' la the Batcave with secret passages to facilitate her constant comings and goings – which suggests that Geraghty somehow got his wires crossed with a typical Zorro adventure!

Unusually, the male protagonist (played by frequent Western/war movie star George Montgomery – here effectively channeling Clark Gable!) shifts allegiances from an antagonist of the heroine to her ally and, predictably, lover (he being a Dragoon captain in the army of Louis Napoleon, not to mention a ladies' man who can never recall the name of his conquests!). Villainy is supplied by reptilian Berry Kroeger (as the ineffectual Emperor's half-brother, who fancies himself the power behind the throne and invariably also covets the Monte Cristo estate!) and burly William Conrad (when falling to his death at the climax, we are gratuitously treated to a shot of him hitting the ground with a loud thud!); others in the cast: Steve Brodie as Montgomery's obligatory sparring sidekick, Robert Warwick as Corday's tradition-bound uncle and the current guardian of the invaluable fortune at stake (whose location is inscribed on the hilt of the titular weapon) and Rhys Williams as the insurgent Mayor all-too-readily given away by his cohorts (amusingly, rather than devising a sensible plan to overthrow the oppressive regime, their underground meetings are replete with enthusiastic but wholly pointless outcries of "Down with Napoleon!"). Another unintentionally amusing moment comes when Corday, wounded in a swordfight with Kroeger, looks askance (in a cutaway to her incredulous face as if to say, "Get on with it!") at Montgomery who engages Kroeger not only in action but in sarcastic banter!

While the film is no classic and a few rungs below the standard of even the recently-viewed THE RETURN OF MONTE CRISTO (1946), there is no denying the sheer entertainment value and appealing pictorial qualities (for what it is worth, this was shot in a process boasting the unwieldy name of Supercinecolor!) to be elicited from this type of unassuming action-oriented fare. Indeed, I am toying with the idea of including in the current Easter epic marathon yet another low-budget variation on the source material concerned – namely SWORD OF VENUS (1953), which has just been made available for those able and willing to lay their hands on it...

This Edward L. Alperson quickie (set in France during the reign of Louis Napoleon but as usual full of American accents) is historically interesting as the first film to be "Presented in SupercineColor" (as the credits proudly proclaim) but also full of other pleasant surprises.

In addition to the surprisingly agile camerawork, the agile swashbuckling hero is a heroine. Although the hero is officially George Montgomery as Captain Renault ("the famous hero of the Crimean War") the swordplay is actually carried out by a female Zorro played by Rita Corday. By day Lady Christianne in white, by night the Masked Cavalier in black (and always in glossy red lipstick), sword in hand and with her hat at a rakish angle, she leaps about like Douglas Fairbanks.

One of the heavies she crosses swords with is a very heavy heavy William Conrad, while the supporting cast also includes 'Out of the Past's Steve Brodie, 'Gun Crazy's Berry Kroger, Lillian Bronson as Alfred to Christianne's Batwoman; and there's even a brief appearance by former Captive Wild Woman Aquanetta as "little Spanish dove" Felice.

Having a female lead was interesting and refreshing, unfortunately the plot wasn't. Pretty bog-standard stuff, and the fights weren't too exciting either. Although the colour was lush and well used.

3/10: Poor storyline and average acting

A sword which provides the key to a fabulous treasure becomes the centre of a struggle to overthrow the Emperor of France. The country's conniving chief minister will stop at nothing to gain possession of the sword. But he is challenged by an officer loyal to Emperor Louis Napoleon. Aiding the officer is a beautiful countess, leading a double-life as a masked vigilante.

With The Sword of Monte Cristo you get secret passages, thrilling sword fights, horseback chases, treachery, narrow escapes, nice costumes and great set pieces, not to forget a masked hero bouncing around, wielding a fair sword, sending the soldiers around the bend by being one step ahead of them, but the twist is that it's Paula Corday, Lady Christianne, an elegant aristocrat, who wants to free France from tyranny and feels that as the heir of the sword engraved with a map leading to the treasure of Monte Cristo could do wonders in the cause. The villain LaRoche - played by Berry Kroeber- is one conniving toe rag and he wants the sword and is willing to torture Lady Christianne's uncle for it.

The Sword of Monte Cristo is a brisk and exciting little swashbuckler with plenty of sword fights, an energetic plot that holds many challenges for the protagonists - Paula Corday and George Montgomery.